Posted on 04/25/2005 12:07:45 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day
ANGER ON THE RIGHT
There is an undeniable fury building among Republican voters coast to coast. It has now been almost six months since that euphoric day last year -- November 2nd -- when Republicans stunned Democrats across the board. Not only did President Bush handily beat John Kerry, but the GOP did what few predicted -- it managed to pick up four seats in the Senate. John Thune's victory over Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota was extra sweet.
That seems like six years ago, not six months ago. Talk to your average Republican voter today and you will find a mood that ranges from anxious/concerned to enraged/frustrated. Yes, the Iraqi elections were amazing. Yes, the President's commitment to the spread of liberty is stalwart. Yes, his European "Unplugged" tour was a necessary step. The focus here is not President Bush (although in an ideal world he would be stronger on the stump on issues beyond social security reform). After the mid-term elections, President Bush will be on his way out, a "short-timer." The future of the Republican Party depends more on what happens now in Congress.
So what has our Republican majority in both houses of Congress gotten us lately? Well, the Terri Schiavo bill-regardless of what you think about its merits -- was at least bold. Then there was the bankruptcy bill. Good stuff, though hardly the legislation that will get voters running to the polls next election.
Of course being in the majority sometimes requires deal-making. Sometimes it requires delaying victory on one issue in order to win support on another more important issue. But sometimes being in the majority just requires that you act like you are in the majority.
This year, with a Republican majority in Congress, we have watched as 20 percent of the President's appellate court nominees are left twisting in the wind. With a Republican majority presiding, we have watched as John Bolton, the President's nominee for U.N. ambassador, has been personally and professionally maligned. With a Republican majority, we have seen spending skyrocket to obscene levels. With a Republican majority, we have seen the Democrats out-maneuver Republicans in the public-relations game with lame lines and gross misrepresentations.
Okay, the Senate did pass tort reform.
But a bill here or a bill there is simply not going to be enough to stem the tide of Republican voters' righteous anger about what many are calling "Creeping Wimpiness." Did thousands of volunteers work tirelessly to give the GOP this majority only to allow the minority to roll them on judges, policy, and other nominations? Did millions of generously open their wallets to the RNC only to see John McCain, Chuck Hagel, Lincoln Chafee, and George Voinovich help the Democrats when we needed them most?
Now is not the time for Republican Senators to cling to niceties. It is not the time to call for more discussions or negotiations. Now is the time for action. Allowing the Bolton nomination to be delayed was unforgivable. (Chairman Richard Lugar was caught totally off-guard by Voinovich's joining the Dems push to delay the Bolton vote.) Allowing Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer to brand nominees such as Janice Rogers Brown (an African American California Supreme Court justice) "extreme", was a colossal mistake. Most of the country still does not know that never before in the history of this country has the filibuster been used to block a vote of an appeals court nominee!
The frustration felt by many GOP voters has created a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for conservative politicians. For the first time in decades, we have no clear front-runner for the next GOP nomination. For the first time since George W. started his presidential campaign in the late 1990s, there is no clear standard-bearer for conservatives to rally round.
If a senator or governor can seize this moment, and create the type of bond with conservatives that Bush created during his nomination battle with McCain, that person could be on his way to the White House. If no one steps forward, and conservative voters increasingly watch their party kowtow to the McCains, Hagels, and Chafees of the mushy middle, then those voters will disengage from this party, meaning that the mainstream press will enjoy covering the elections of 2006 and 2008 a lot more than they enjoyed the election 2004.
There's not much else to choose from. Tort reform is one of the precious few successes, thanks to the Dem obstructionists and the weak-kneed Republican caucus.
Our problems are deep and complex. A sudden change to what many consider to be the "constitutional intent" of the founders would be a budget shock of which we may not recover in these competitve times and requires a new look at a very impresive document that was created before the advent of world economies, mass communication and other technological advancements. I am not advocating scraping those documents. Simply, we need an understanding going forward appying the intent and principals in todays world.
Can someone tell me how do defend the bankruptcy bill against liberal attacks, Im having trouble.
Can someone tell me how to defend the bankruptcy bill against liberal attacks, Im having trouble.
I want Laura to run against Hillary in 2006..
I'll say the same for John McCain. I'm sick of the radio/television talkers always prefacing their critiques of McLame with "I thank him for his service in Vietnam".
Vietnam was a generation ago. What has he done lately... besides stifle Bush's agenda?
In this environment, anything that stalls the predatory merchant will not live. The buyer beware era is moving back upon us. In some cases, it's good. But I've read many freeper stories, some very intelligent and knowledgeable folks, that have been sucked in by the small print or overly agreesive tactics of some credit lenders. Unfortunatley, you can't do due dilligence on everything, otherwise you'd never be able to do a transaction. There needs to be some moderation on both sides.
What we want are judges to be confirmed that will not legislate from the bench; is that a problem?
With all due repect, I believe that the MAJORITY of us who are angry about the filibuster issue are normally pretty low-key. But it is understandably frustrating to see the minority party, which has lost big in the last three election cycles, now control the momentum of our judicial appointments. We won. We are in control. Our President has the right to nominate good judges and have them voted on.
Frist is a limp-wrist. That's no surprise.
What's surprising is Bush himself. This is it. No more for him. He went to all the trouble to win this second term to do what? Roll over and play dead?
Wake up, W. It's time to kill.
Well the Dems do have a REAL KKKer in the Senate who could come a visiting them at midnight and leave a little message for them on their lawns.
Or maybe they fear that Dem queer will start coming by their neighborhoods driving an Ice Cream truck.
''Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.'' ~ Michael Rivero
Amendment: We are *supposed to be* in control.
I just get the biggest smile.
CB^))
Boy you said a mouthful here. I agree that we shouldn't scrap the documents, but certainly the "fear of ammending" them should be gone. Clearly they don't address all of the issuse in our complicated age. And they can't be expected to when one considers the time and era they were written in.
aren't there any better pictures?
While there can't be an example of judicial appointment, there are many other appointments we held up as the minority party in the 90's. Sure it's frustrating. But then again, we got Scalia and Thomas through the morass. So why can't we do it with the others. Oh and sometimes even they manage to torque off the FR masses.
Frist should get on with it. He has nothing to lose. Hell, as soon as the Senate votes to end the fillibuster of judicial nominees, the dems will take it to Fed. Court and some liberal judge will announce that judicial fillibusters are indeed part of the Constitution. Yep, you got it, the Judiciary will announce that it now sets the rules for the operation of the Legislative Branch.
Bottom line, appointing judicial nominees is a small step in the war to make the Judicial Branch co-equal with the other branches. Sooner or later the Legislature and the President are going to have to tell the Judiciary that if it likes its rulings so much, it can enforce those rulings.
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